Lake Toya
Lake Toya is a caldera lake in south-west Hokkaido, within the Shikotsu-Toya National Park, almost round and about ten kilometres across, with the wooded islands of Nakajima at its centre and Mount Usu on its southern shore.
Twilight on Lake Toya, the Nakajima islands beyond
- Region
- Hokkaido
- Journeys
- Two of our journeys
overview
A round lake in an old volcano, islands at its centre and a young mountain on its shore.
The lake fills a caldera formed when a great volcano collapsed more than a hundred thousand years ago, and its shore runs about forty kilometres around. The islands of Nakajima rose in the middle of it later, and their forests are home to deer. On the southern rim, Mount Usu and its younger domes are still shaping the land, which is why the lake and the volcanoes around it were among the first places in Japan named a UNESCO Global Geopark.
The most remarkable of those domes is Showa-Shinzan, which rose out of a farmer's wheat field between 1943 and 1945 to a height of almost four hundred metres. The town's postmaster, Masao Mimatsu, recorded its growth day by day in a series of drawings later admired by geologists around the world, then bought the land so that the mountain could be kept. It still steams on its red flanks beside the ropeway to Usu.
The Summer Tour of Hokkaido and The Cherry Blossom Tour of Hokkaido both stop here for slow days by the water: the lake seen from an onsen, a boat across to the islands, the volcano by ropeway. On a clear day Mount Yotei, the cone called the Fuji of Hokkaido, stands to the north, and on summer evenings fireworks go up over the water from a boat on the lake. In 2008 the leaders of the G8 met on the hills above it.
Our tours stay overnightOur tours visit for the dayOn a Custom Tour of Japan
see and do
What to see at Lake Toya
The lake from the water
A boat across the caldera to the Nakajima islands, the almost perfect circle of the rim around you and the volcanoes on its southern side.
Nakajima
The four wooded islands at the centre of the lake, the largest with a forest walk and a small museum of the island's nature, its deer living wild among the trees.
Mount Usu and the Usuzan Ropeway
The volcano on the southern shore, reached by ropeway to an observation point of more than five hundred metres, with the whole caldera on one side and the Pacific at Uchiura Bay on the other.
Showa-Shinzan from the Usuzan ropeway Showa-Shinzan
The red dome that rose out of a wheat field in the 1940s, still steaming, with the Mimatsu Masao Memorial Museum beside it telling the story of the postmaster who recorded it.
The Nishiyama crater promenade
A walkway laid along the craters that opened on the western slopes of Usu in 2000, past the road and buildings lifted and folded by the moving ground, now part of the geopark.
Toya Lakeside Sculpture Park
Fifty-eight sculptures set along the shore of the lake, a walk of art around the water.
Mount Yotei
The cone of 1,898 metres north of the lake, called Ezo Fuji, whose symmetrical summit rises above the far shore on a clear day.
Toyako Onsen
The onsen village on the southern shore, its springs discovered in 1910, its lakeside promenade facing Nakajima across the water.
Toyako Visitor Center and Volcano Science Museum
The museum of the geopark at Toyako Onsen, which tells the story of Mount Usu and the land it has shaped around the lake, with films and models of the changes of 1977 and 2000.
experiences
The best of Lake Toya
A private boat on the caldera
The lake by private boat, steered by someone who knows it, out to the islands and around under the rim, with the volcanoes rising on the southern shore.
An onsen above the lake
An evening in a ryokan whose onsen look out over the caldera, the islands darkening in the water and the light going from Mount Yotei.
The volcano with a geologist
Mount Usu, Showa-Shinzan and the craters of 2000 with a guide from the geopark, who reads the land as a story still being written.
Fireworks from the shore
On summer evenings, fireworks over the water from a boat on the lake, seen from the promenade or from the onsen of a ryokan.
plan your visit
Lake Toya on a journey through Japan
- How long to stay
- One or two nights; two gives a day on the water and the volcano, and two long evenings at the ryokan.
- Getting there
- By private car from New Chitose Airport in about an hour and a half, or from Sapporo in about two hours. By the limited express from Sapporo to Toya Station in about an hour and fifty minutes, then fifteen minutes by car. Niseko is about an hour away, Noboribetsu about an hour.
- Pairs well with
- Lake Toya sits between the airport and Hakodate: Noboribetsu and Niseko are each about an hour away, Lake Shikotsu a little further, and Onuma and Hakodate lie south along the coast of Uchiura Bay.NoboribetsuNisekoLake ShikotsuOtaruHakodateOnuma
where to stay
Luxury hotels and ryokan at Lake Toya
The ryokan of Lake Toya stand either on the hills above the lake or on its shore at Toyako Onsen, and the best of them turn their rooms and onsen to the water and the islands. The Cherry Blossom Tour of Hokkaido stays on the hill, at a resort of gardens above the eastern shore whose suites and many of its rooms have an open-air onsen of their own.
The Summer Tour of Hokkaido stays at the water's edge, in a hotel where every room has an open-air onsen on its terrace facing the lake, and a dining room that cooks the produce of the farms and coast around it.
journeys
Tours of Japan that include Lake Toya
Open a journey below for its route, its dates and its price. On dates of your own, a Custom Tour of Japan can bring you here and anywhere else in Japan you would like to go.
SummerThe Summer Tour of Hokkaido
12 days25 June to 6 July 2027, or 11 to 22 July 2027$18,500per person, twin shareSee the journey
SpringThe Cherry Blossom Tour of Hokkaido
13 days28 April to 10 May 2027$18,500per person, twin shareSee the journey
Planned around youThe Custom Tour of Japan
Your party aloneWith your own Tour DirectorFrom five nights, on the dates you chooseSee the journey
questions
Lake Toya: questions answered
How do you get to Lake Toya from Sapporo?
By private car in about two hours, or by the limited express to Toya Station in about an hour and fifty minutes, then a short drive to the lake.
How long should you stay at Lake Toya?
One or two nights. Two allows a boat on the lake, Mount Usu by ropeway and Showa-Shinzan, with two evenings at a ryokan.
Can you see Mount Yotei from Lake Toya?
Yes, on a clear day. Mount Yotei, the cone called Ezo Fuji, rises above the northern shore of the lake.
Is Lake Toya worth visiting?
Yes. It is one of the most beautiful lakes in Hokkaido, a round caldera with islands at its centre, a living volcano on its shore and onsen ryokan above the water.
Is there an onsen at Lake Toya?
Yes. Toyako Onsen on the southern shore has springs discovered in 1910, and the ryokan around the lake have onsen of their own, many open to the view.
What is Showa-Shinzan?
A dome of rock beside Mount Usu that rose out of a wheat field between 1943 and 1945, recorded by the town's postmaster in drawings that became famous among geologists.
How far is Lake Toya from Niseko?
About an hour by car, around the foot of Mount Yotei, which makes the two an easy pairing on a journey through south-west Hokkaido.
Which Luxury Japan Travel journeys include Lake Toya?
The Summer Tour of Hokkaido and The Cherry Blossom Tour of Hokkaido spend nights at Lake Toya. On dates of your own, a Custom Tour of Japan can include Lake Toya too.
Can Lake Toya be part of a private tour of Japan?
Yes. The Custom Tour of Japan is created around your party alone, on your dates, with your own Tour Director, and it can go anywhere in the country, Lake Toya included. If you would rather travel independently, the Expert Japan Itinerary plans every day for you.
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Every place in Hokkaido
Lake Toya, planned for you.
Tell us when you would like to travel and what draws you to Lake Toya, and we will answer with the journey that suits you best: one of our published tours, a journey of The Private Collection, or a Custom Tour of Japan created around your party alone.